Mr Yunupingu remembered for building bridges between cultures and work in education

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The lead singer of Yothu Yindi and former Australian of the Year, Mr M Yunupingu, will be honoured at a state memorial service in remote north-east Arnhem Land on Sunday.

Mr Yunupingu died earlier this month at the age of 56. He'd been suffering from kidney disease for several years.

He's being remembered as a man who built bridges between cultures.

Sara Everingham reports from the community of Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land.

(Sound of a junior football match)

SARA EVERINGHAM: Children are playing football on the oval in Yirrkala, a community of about 900 people on the north-eastern tip of Arnhem Land.

It's a school holiday program and Nathan Djekurra who was a Yirrkala export to the AFL is organising the game.

(Sound of a junior football match)

It was here at the Yirrkala community school where the lead singer of Yothu Yindi, Mr Yunupingu, made a mark. In the late 1980s he was the assistant principal of the school and later became the principal.

Djawa Yunupingu says his brother helped develop Both Ways education which brought knowledge from Yolngu culture into the classroom.

DJAWA YUNUPINGU: He was just an amazing kind of a person. He started up the two ways kind of learning, both the Balanda and the Yolngu way of learning, you know whereas in school when we started out myself and him, we were told you must speak English in class not Yolngu language.

SARA EVERINGHAM: One of Mr Yunupingu's nieces, Dhalulu Ganambarr-Stubbs, says her uncle helped the elders realise their dreams for education. She's a teacher at the school.

DHALULU GANAMBARR-STUBBS: It was the elders that had actually said that our children should be learning to read and write, not just only speak in their own language, now that the Western world is coming upon us.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Another niece, Banbapuy Ganambarr, was a student when Mr Yunupingu was principal at the school. She's now following in his footsteps as a teacher.

BANBAPUY GANAMBARR: It's one of the journeys that I'll never forget. He is my hero, he is my leader and he is my mentor and he is my teacher.

SARA EVERINGHAM: She says her education has helped her walk in both worlds.

BANBAPUY GANAMBARR: I can step into the Balanda world and step into the Yolngu world. And having that balance in place, that was his wish.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Banbapuy Ganambarr says even after Mr Yunupingu left the school, he continued to be an educator through his music.

BANBAPUY GANAMBARR: Through songs he educated people, through stories, through teachings. He was spreading the news that we're still here, you know, what we want.

SARA EVERINGHAM: And in recent years Mr Yunupingu had been working on a program that was aiming to improve school attendance and achievement by working with parents.

Dhalulu Ganambarr-Stubbs says today school attendance is a major challenge.

DHALULU GANAMBARR-STUBBS: There's children still not coming to school and that's one of the very difficult issues that is happening here at Yirrkala. We need to show parents that there are good things happening at the school.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Over the years there's been fluctuating government support for the Both Ways programs. But the women have vowed to continue their uncle's work.

DHALULU GANAMBARR-STUBBS: We'll keep his programs going.

BANBAPUY GANAMBARR: And pass that on to new generation for his wish and the elders' wish to continue what he believed in and what he valued most in his life.

SARA EVERINGHAM: In north-east Arnhem Land discussions continue about an education plan based on the programs Mr Yunupingu helped develop.

From the Archives

Around 500 Indigenous people fought in the First World War, and as many as 5,000 in the second. But many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers who made it home received little or no recognition for their contribution. On Anzac Day, 2007, the first parade to commemorate their efforts and bravery was held in Sydney. Listen to our report from that day by Lindy Kerin.